Profiel Stichting Tiye International

Background

Tiye International , the umbrella NGO of 21 National Organisations of Black, Migrant and Refugee (BMR) women in the Netherlands, was established officially in 1994 by the Chamber of Commerce and registered under number S 186.653.

Tiye enjoys Special Consultative Status with de Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations since 1998.

Tiye was the name of a Nubian queen, the mother of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen.

She was a wise and influential woman. In the power struggles of that time, Tiye reigned as Queen-Mother and left deep prints that still can be traced in Egyptian history. She governed the country when her husband, the Pharaoh, was ill. To sustain the Pharaoh influence in his absence she not only waged wars, but continued to lead the country as long as necessary for their young son to acclaim his seat as the next Pharaoh. She coordinated state politics and influenced Egyptian art, fashion and other cultural fields. Under her rule Egypt became a powerful nation. In those days it was customary, that when a man and a woman were portrayed, the woman had to be portrayed on a lower level than the man. The Pharaoh insisted that his wife Tiye would not be portrayed beneath him on a lower level, but on the same level and height, sitting next to him, as his equal. Tiye's opinions were so highly respected that the notables of that Age allowed her signature to appear on all documents.

Objectives

In the spirit of the Egyptian queen, Tiye International aims to:

•  Promote true equal opportunities for effective participation of black and migrant women in all spheres of life, in particular in economic, social, legal and political decision-making.

•  Promote worldwide solidarity between women and men.

•  Improve and enhance an effective role for BMR-women in social participation, in order for women and men to be able to work on equality, development and peace.

•  Combat racism and all other forms of discrimination in order to provide access to employment, fitting terms of employment and control over economic resources.

•  Combat social economic exclusion of BMR-women.

•  Promote collective action on national, European and international level without denying the diversity among women based on their economic and political environments, race, age and religion.

•  Promote interaction between women from the South who live in the North and women in the South.

Activities

Tiye International pursues these objectives by developing projects on issues which are:

•  Supporting and stimulating the expertise of BMR-women on the fields of social

•  Economic policy en decision-making and social economic issues.

•  Promoting dialogue between and collective action among women in Europe.

•  Exchanging information and experiences.

•  Influencing government policy and being proactive.

•  Participating in decision-making institutions.

•  Promoting non discrimination from a human rights perspective and make visible forms of multiple discrimination.

To be able to accomplish these goals, Tiye International applies for co-funding through national and European budget lines; sets up (voluntary) working groups, participates in external workgroups and boards; and develops and/or carries out projects with partially paid co-ordinators.

TIYE has never been structural funded by the Dutch government since her existence in 1994.

Some examples:

•  Social economic position of women (poverty, social economic exclusion and/or inequality in social security).

•  Violence against women and children.

•  Human rights of women.

•  Positive images of BMR-women.

•  Balanced Day Schedule/combination scenario

•  Youth and sustainable social independence.

•  Youth and effective participation in Boards from a diversity perspective

•  Promoting Anti racism trainings

•  Promoting a gender perspective

•  Promoting cross cultural policies into organisations (methodology: Social and cultural sensitiveness within labour market organisations)

•  Intersectionality Training “Train the trainers” – Women and peace building activities

•  Women exchange programmes (f.e. South Africa, China, Ecuador, Surinam)

Note:

•  Tiye has developed a programme for Capacity Building, poverty eradication from a gender perspective for 2006 till 2008 for 5 selected project countries of origin of the member organisations in co=operation with NOVIB. The final result will be micro credit cooperation. It is a pilot.

•  Our training methodology: Breaking Through, (the taboos of domestic violence) was selected out of 301 projects by the European Commission as one of the 15 good practices under the Daphne programme 2001 – 2004.

Means

Expertise promotion, seminars, workshops, training, projects, research, position papers, newsletters, participation in external platforms, boards, councils etc.

Structure of organisation

All the member organisations have a representative in the General Board.

In addition to the General Board, there is an elected Executive Board, with a Chairperson, a Treasurer and a Secretary, that implements the decisions. Decision-making takes place in a democratic manner in the General Board.

Policy preparations occurs in workgroups and committees.

The secretariat is run by a selective number of project staff members and mostly through the efforts of unpaid professionals from the Boards

Tiye International is partner in several cooperation schemes in regard to:

•  Social (in)security and prevention of poverty.

•  The International Women's Charter and BMR-women. Coordination: Clara Wichmann Institute 2002.till 2005, then the Institute was closed, due to lack of financial support.

•  Gender and race analysis. Realisation in cooperation with WDO and NOVIB.

•  Poverty and 40+ BMR-women. An initiative of The Netherlands

•  The International Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

•  The Millennium goals

Collaborations

On the European level, Tiye participates in the European Women's Lobby, a European NGO with more than 3000 women's NGOs from different European member states.

The delegate of TIYE is a board member of the EWL.

Tiye is also a member of Women in Development (WIDE) that has, among other things, women from the South as a priority on European level. And of AWID.

On International level, Tiye is an affiliate of CONGO (Council of NGOs) that works in close cooperation with the United Nations and other NGOs worldwide. Tiye is also a member of the International Cross Cultural Black Women's Institute. Furthermore, Tiye has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

Tiye International is closely involved with different UN processes, in the preparatory processes as well as in world conferences, such as:

•  Beijing Women's Conference (Beijing, 1995)

•  Social Summit (Copenhagen, 1995)

•  Beijing +5 (New York, 2000)

•  Copenhagen +5 (Geneva, 2000)

•  Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Durban, 2001)

•  Second Aging Assemble (Madrid, 2002)

•  Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002)

•  Micro credits, migration and brain gain versus brain drain in Mexico, 2005

•  Inter governmental UN meeting 2006 in Geneva , reviewing the Durban 2001 Declaration and Program of Action.

Tiye International also participates in the national, European and international follow-up processes. Tiye monitors the annual sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) of the United Nations. Tiye develops new projects on national, European and international level. Tiye develops these projects independently or in cooperation with organisations with comparable objectives in Europe or elsewhere in the world.

Not withstanding all this work that is being done by Tiye, Tiye does not receive structural

subsidies from the government. Tiye works with highly motivated unpaid professionals who

make major efforts and fight for the interests of black, migrant and refugee women and youth.

For more information you can contact us at our office Tiye International :

Boven Vredenburg 65

3511 CW UTRECHT

The Netherlands

Tel/fax: (+31).30-238 2547

E-mail: tiye.int@worldonline.nl

tiye.international@tiscali.nl